Visitor perceptions

Overview of visitor perceptions and satisfaction with Christchurch experience.

Christchurch City has a range of attractions and attributes, and provides many unique visitor experiences.

However, Christchurch has lost much of its identity (i.e. Garden City, 'Old English' heritage, and sport) as a result of the 2010/2011 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence, and this affects perceptions and confidence in the City.

Topic

Status

Key findings

Reasons for visiting

Snapshot

In 2018, visitors living elsewhere in New Zealand mainly came to Christchurch to visit friends and family, or for a holiday.

Just over three quarters of visitors agree that the city seems positive and optimistic. Further information.

Perceptions of city's safety

Increasing trend

International visitors were more likely to agree that Christchurch is safe compared to domestic visitors. Around 85% of international visitors agreed the City is safe. Further information.

Reasons for visiting

The majority of international visitors to Christchurch are primarily here for a holiday/vacation. In 2018, two thirds (65%) of Australians cited a holiday as being their main reason for visiting the City, while 72% of other international visitors were here for a holiday.

Around 20% of visitors from Australia were mainly in the City to visit friends/family, reflecting the close relationship and higher levels of migration between the two countries.

Domestic visitors to Christchurch are mainly here to visit friends/family (34%), followed by a holiday (20%) and business reasons (13%).

Satisfaction with overall visit to Christchurch

Visitors rated their overall experience of the City as 8.5 out of 10 in 2018. This has generally been rated over 8 since 2014.

Visitors from New Zealand and Australia have tended to rate their experience higher than visitors from other international countries.

Satisfaction with aspects of visit to Christchurch City

In 2018, overall visitor experience satisfaction was highest amongst domestic and Australian visitors (8.6 out of 10), with other international visitors rating their overall experience at 8.4 out of 10.

Transport to the city was the highest rated tourism aspect, with an overall rating of 8.4 out of 10 from all international visitors, and 8.5 out of 10 from domestic visitors.

Visitors from Australia were generally slightly more satisfied with each key city aspect (accommodation, local transport options, bars and restaurants, activities and attractions, and parking/public facilities) than other international visitors.

As with international visitors, New Zealand visitors were least satisfied with the City's parking and other public facilities.

Satisfaction with accessing information and finding places

Visitors to Christchurch were particularly satisfied with access to visitor information, rating this at over 8 out of 10 in 2018. Other international visitors rated this higher than domestic and Australian visitors in 2018. Each tourist market gave a higher rating in 2018 than in 2016.

Visitors from Australia and New Zealand gave slightly lower satisfaction ratings for finding their way in around the central city, compared with other international visitors. Ratings improved for each tourist market between 2016 and 2018.

Visitors were more satisfied with finding places to eat and drink than with finding nightlife. Other international visitors were less likely to be satisfied with finding places to eat, drink and go to at night than domestic and Australian visitors were. Once again, these aspects were rated higher in 2018 than in 2016 by each of the three tourist markets.

Satisfaction with empty spaces

There was an improvement in visitor satisfaction with the amount of empty space in the city between 2016 and 2018. In 2018, domestic and Australian visitors were least satisfied with the amount of empty space (respectively 6.4 and 6.7 out of 10).

Other international visitors were the most satisfied with the amount of empty space in 2018 (6.9 out of 10) but the least satisfied in 2016 (5.5 out of 10).

Christchurch's readiness for visitors

In 2018, around three quarters of visitors agreed that Christchurch was ready for visitors. There was little difference in perceptions by origin of visitor, although other international visitors experienced the largest increase between 2016 and 2018, from 71 to 75%.

Around 76% of visitors agreed that the city had enough visitor facilities in 2018. Once again, the largest increase between 2016 and 2018 came from international visitors, increasing from 71 to 76%.

Christchurch's vibrancy

Almost three quarters of visitors to the city agreed that the city is vibrant, with little difference between domestic and international visitors.

Creativity scored the highest, with around 81% of visitors agreeing that Christchurch was creative. 2018 results were similar to 2016 results.

Around 75% of visitors agreed that the city was exciting in 2018. Other international visitors had the largest change between 2016 and 2018, increasing from 70 to 74%.

Just under 75% of visitors thought that the city was revived. Results were largely unchanged between 2016 and 2018.

The proportion of domestic and Australian visitors who thought the city was revived decreased between 2016 and 2018, from 69% to around 65%. On the other hand, the proportion of other international visitors who thought the city was revived increased from 63 to 66%.

Christchurch's outlook

Just over three quarters of visitors agree that the city seems positive and optimistic. Visitors from overseas were more likely to agree than visitors from New Zealand on all four aspects (the city feels optimistic, has positive people, is seen positively and is upbeat).

Around 80% of international visitors agreed that the city has positive people, compared with 76% of domestic visitors. The proportion of visitors who agreed that the city has positive people decreased between 2016 and 2018 across all three visitor origin areas.

Those who thought the city felt optimistic remained unchanged between 2016 and 2018. Once again, international visitors were more likely to agree with this than domestic visitors.

In 2018, around 78% of international visitors viewed the city positively, compared with 73% of New Zealand visitors.

Lastly, 77% of international visitors thought that the city was upbeat, compared with 74% of New Zealand visitors.

Perceptions of safety

The majority of visitors to the city agree that Christchurch is safe. Visitors from overseas are more likely to agree that Christchurch is safe (85% in 2018, compared with 79% of domestic visitors).

In 2018, Australian and domestic visitors rated their perceptions of safety around the same as in 2016, while the proportion of other international visitors who agreed the city was safe increased from 82 to 85%.

Further information

Liability statement

Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy in processing, analysing and reporting the information provided in these web pages and reports. However, the Christchurch City Council gives no warranty that the information in these web pages and reports contain no errors. The Council shall not be liable for any loss or damage suffered consequent upon the use directly, or indirectly, of the information supplied in this publication.